Research Question: Does Money Matter in Education? Author: Samantha Lindquist
Lane, E. (2013). Choice, competition and children: School vouchers threaten America's future. Church & State, 66(4), 21.
In this article it speaks of the dilemma that is the use of vouchers in the realm of education. The use of vouchers means the increase in private education taking money that is desperately needed in the public schools. That is possible because the vouchers take the money right out of the system and put it in the other one rather than leave it if you could pay for private schools. The article also says that vouchers are a threat to both public education and the separation of church and state because they would be allowing government in the realm of religion something that should never happen. Lastly the article also touches on the idea that vouchers can hurt the poor because it undermines all the funding for their schools and they will not be able to go to schools that will help them further their lives.
My reaction to this article is that it makes sense and that vouchers can really hurt education. The idea of vouchers is a bad one in the first place because it is letting someone other than those attending the schools allow you to get in and they can be as discriminating as they want because if you want in their schools you have to go by their rules. I also agree with the author on the idea that is will hurt the idea of the separation of church and state because it is allowing government where it shouldn’t be and religion where it shouldn’t be, crossing way to many lines.
Back in 2010 there had been the financial crisis that was just coming back after the recession that began in 2007 there was a huge bill that passed through congress that allowed for billions of dollars to be used in schools around the country. Schools used the money because they needed the money, it created over 250,000 jobs in education. While the money was helping now and was allowing the schools to add teachers or equipment or even building what was going to happen when all the money was gone. These schools were going to have to undo all of what they had just done.
My response to this is to feel bad for those schools who truly needed the money and had to deal with the repercussions to needing to use it. They wanted to help their students as much as they could but when they tried all they got was having to fire all the people they had just brought into the district because they didn’t have the money to keep them. I feel this is all a real showing of what happens in poorer neighborhoods who don’t have the funding for their schools in the first place.
As of now there is money flowing into the poorer schools in this nation, but educators are saying there isn’t. In poorer schools the money per-student is higher than that of more wealthy schools or even private schools. These educators also say that the money would be used for the subjects that are needed in every school setting when it really is used for the education that is less than always needed with things like arts and physical education or even athletics rather than helping these students in the subjects they need to excel in for things later in life. The book that is discussed above speaks not just on these ideas but on the idea that there are many misconceptions about what happens to your money in the education system.
My thoughts on this is that it is true that there are many misconceptions in the world of education because I had thought that the money that was paid per-student would go to core classes that are needed by for the student rather than just classes that are electives. As I say that though I also understand why it is this way as well because the electives are smaller sizes and have the ability to allow the students to try out their talents in something different. My response is that it is not a good idea to allow the money that should be going one place to go to another even if it could be beneficial in the long run.
Diane Ravitch is one of the most out spoken people on education reform out there today and she tends to feel things like corporate reform and Common Core are not going to help. In the story of Indiana there has been many differences of opinion especially between the Republicans in power and the people who put them in power, those who financed their campaigns. Those who helped them win power wanted them to be for corporate reform in schools but they themselves didn’t want that they didn’t even want the Common Core Standards in Indiana. If they brought them in the next thing would be corporate reform in their schools.
My response to this is that there is too many things happening like this in politics these days. Politicians should only do what they believe in or their party really believes in they shouldn’t be forced to do what goes against their beliefs which corporate reform in schools is not really on any ones likes because it would cause a whole mess of problems. Another response I had is what right do corporations really have to try and force people to do their bidding just because they want to run everything in the government. Things like this are just going to lead to worse things in education rather than things that will truly help students.
Rikard, G. L. (2008, August). Money for the asking: Writing small grants for physical education. JOPERD: The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. pp. 3-15.
This article is about what physical education teachers and those in training have to go through just to be able to get through their courses and what they need to get done with little resources. In Northern Virginia the physical education teacher had to create activities that would stimulate students learning and thinking. This was all for getting these same teachers and teachers in training grant money that would allow them to be able to spend money on their program at their school.
My response to this is that I can see both sides of the argument that comes up. First I can say that the fact that they have to get their own grants is unfair when all schools who apply for money should spread it out evenly among the programs. But I also understand the opposite that they should do their own fundraising in the way they described because it allows for the creation of new ideas and the flow of new ways to understand age old topics. I feel very mixed up on this issue because it is an issue that they are essentially forcing the physical education teachers to find their own funds themselves but it is also good because it allows for new things to be created.
Overall Reaction to Your Research
My Overall reaction to the research I did really enlightened me on how certain things get done in this world. First it enlightened me on what Vouchers are really doing to the school system and how they are going to hurt it in the long run. With the taking of money from much needed school districts and giving it to charter schools who are endorsed by every corporation. That’s another thing that enlightened me is the that the corporations are leaning on the politicians to get behind ideas like vouchers and charter schools because they want their corporate reform to be in schools where in my opinion they shouldn’t be. A third thing that enlightened me is the idea that teachers are not really being given money from their districts or schools, they have to go out and get it themselves via grant money and even than it might not be enough to satisfy their courses. There is only one think I sort of like about this idea is that teachers are having to think of new ways to teach different types of things and I think that stimulates knowledge growth in our country. A fourth and final thing that enlightened me is that the money given to schools by either the federal and state governments is used of classes without large amounts of people rather than being used of for classes that are needed in the long run for people. Classes like math, English, sciences or history don’t really get the money because there are too many people in those classes while things like shop, art and music do get that money because one the classes are smaller and two because they allow for the possibility of someone learning if they have talent in things. Another thing that has to do with federal and state government money is that when it is there it is very good and helpful but when it’s not many unfortunate things can happen to schools. I feel many of these issues that deal with the money used by schools are unknown when they really should and they are important to know because they show who is deciding things that effect you.
How does this research help us identify or refine a strategy to improve schools in Rhode Island?
This research tells us that while many people think that the American Educational System is flawed that it is really those who try to change the system are the ones who are flawed. For Rhode Island we see that the schools are good but when you look at the inner city public schools like in Central Falls or Providence there isn’t much money there and that they are doing worse than the schools in more affluent areas like East Greenwich or Barrington. Things like charter schools, while many Rhode Islanders think they are good which they can be but they aren’t when they are taking funding from schools who really need it and will not be getting any more like they would if the parents just had them go to private school. Another thing that is happening that shouldn’t is that people are going to private or charter schools and they use vouchers. These things are creating a whole mess of problems for people and not allowing money to go to much needed public schools, they are also hurting the separation between church and state because parents what their children to go to good schools and sometimes that means going to religious privates schools that they may not agree with. I think that for Rhode Island there really isn’t much that would be changed, other than allowing schools that are losing money to charter schools to be able to get more because the more they lose the less likely they will be able to bounce back and do well on state tests. They will continue to lose teachers because of inability to pay them and it will hurt the students and the schools will end up closing. Because whether or not we like to think about it money does matter in schools and schools in cities need it a lot more than what people are willing to give them.
Author: Samantha Lindquist
Lane, E. (2013). Choice, competition and children: School vouchers threaten America's future. Church & State, 66(4), 21.
In this article it speaks of the dilemma that is the use of vouchers in the realm of education. The use of vouchers means the increase in private education taking money that is desperately needed in the public schools. That is possible because the vouchers take the money right out of the system and put it in the other one rather than leave it if you could pay for private schools. The article also says that vouchers are a threat to both public education and the separation of church and state because they would be allowing government in the realm of religion something that should never happen. Lastly the article also touches on the idea that vouchers can hurt the poor because it undermines all the funding for their schools and they will not be able to go to schools that will help them further their lives.
My reaction to this article is that it makes sense and that vouchers can really hurt education. The idea of vouchers is a bad one in the first place because it is letting someone other than those attending the schools allow you to get in and they can be as discriminating as they want because if you want in their schools you have to go by their rules. I also agree with the author on the idea that is will hurt the idea of the separation of church and state because it is allowing government where it shouldn’t be and religion where it shouldn’t be, crossing way to many lines.
Dillion, S. (2010, February 7). With federal stimulus money gone, many schools face budget gaps. New York Times. Retrieved from http://http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/education/08educ.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C{%222%22%3A%22RI%3A18%22}&_r=3&
Back in 2010 there had been the financial crisis that was just coming back after the recession that began in 2007 there was a huge bill that passed through congress that allowed for billions of dollars to be used in schools around the country. Schools used the money because they needed the money, it created over 250,000 jobs in education. While the money was helping now and was allowing the schools to add teachers or equipment or even building what was going to happen when all the money was gone. These schools were going to have to undo all of what they had just done.
My response to this is to feel bad for those schools who truly needed the money and had to deal with the repercussions to needing to use it. They wanted to help their students as much as they could but when they tried all they got was having to fire all the people they had just brought into the district because they didn’t have the money to keep them. I feel this is all a real showing of what happens in poorer neighborhoods who don’t have the funding for their schools in the first place.
Greene, J. P. (2011). How schools spend their money. Education Next. Retrieved from http://http://educationnext.org/how-schools-spend-their-money/
As of now there is money flowing into the poorer schools in this nation, but educators are saying there isn’t. In poorer schools the money per-student is higher than that of more wealthy schools or even private schools. These educators also say that the money would be used for the subjects that are needed in every school setting when it really is used for the education that is less than always needed with things like arts and physical education or even athletics rather than helping these students in the subjects they need to excel in for things later in life. The book that is discussed above speaks not just on these ideas but on the idea that there are many misconceptions about what happens to your money in the education system.
My thoughts on this is that it is true that there are many misconceptions in the world of education because I had thought that the money that was paid per-student would go to core classes that are needed by for the student rather than just classes that are electives. As I say that though I also understand why it is this way as well because the electives are smaller sizes and have the ability to allow the students to try out their talents in something different. My response is that it is not a good idea to allow the money that should be going one place to go to another even if it could be beneficial in the long run.
Ravitch, D. (2014, October 31). Vouchers | Diane Ravitch's blog [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://dianeravitch.net/category/vouchers/
Diane Ravitch is one of the most out spoken people on education reform out there today and she tends to feel things like corporate reform and Common Core are not going to help. In the story of Indiana there has been many differences of opinion especially between the Republicans in power and the people who put them in power, those who financed their campaigns. Those who helped them win power wanted them to be for corporate reform in schools but they themselves didn’t want that they didn’t even want the Common Core Standards in Indiana. If they brought them in the next thing would be corporate reform in their schools.
My response to this is that there is too many things happening like this in politics these days. Politicians should only do what they believe in or their party really believes in they shouldn’t be forced to do what goes against their beliefs which corporate reform in schools is not really on any ones likes because it would cause a whole mess of problems. Another response I had is what right do corporations really have to try and force people to do their bidding just because they want to run everything in the government. Things like this are just going to lead to worse things in education rather than things that will truly help students.
Rikard, G. L. (2008, August). Money for the asking: Writing small grants for physical education. JOPERD: The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. pp. 3-15.
This article is about what physical education teachers and those in training have to go through just to be able to get through their courses and what they need to get done with little resources. In Northern Virginia the physical education teacher had to create activities that would stimulate students learning and thinking. This was all for getting these same teachers and teachers in training grant money that would allow them to be able to spend money on their program at their school.
My response to this is that I can see both sides of the argument that comes up. First I can say that the fact that they have to get their own grants is unfair when all schools who apply for money should spread it out evenly among the programs. But I also understand the opposite that they should do their own fundraising in the way they described because it allows for the creation of new ideas and the flow of new ways to understand age old topics. I feel very mixed up on this issue because it is an issue that they are essentially forcing the physical education teachers to find their own funds themselves but it is also good because it allows for new things to be created.
Overall Reaction to Your Research
My Overall reaction to the research I did really enlightened me on how certain things get done in this world. First it enlightened me on what Vouchers are really doing to the school system and how they are going to hurt it in the long run. With the taking of money from much needed school districts and giving it to charter schools who are endorsed by every corporation. That’s another thing that enlightened me is the that the corporations are leaning on the politicians to get behind ideas like vouchers and charter schools because they want their corporate reform to be in schools where in my opinion they shouldn’t be. A third thing that enlightened me is the idea that teachers are not really being given money from their districts or schools, they have to go out and get it themselves via grant money and even than it might not be enough to satisfy their courses. There is only one think I sort of like about this idea is that teachers are having to think of new ways to teach different types of things and I think that stimulates knowledge growth in our country. A fourth and final thing that enlightened me is that the money given to schools by either the federal and state governments is used of classes without large amounts of people rather than being used of for classes that are needed in the long run for people. Classes like math, English, sciences or history don’t really get the money because there are too many people in those classes while things like shop, art and music do get that money because one the classes are smaller and two because they allow for the possibility of someone learning if they have talent in things. Another thing that has to do with federal and state government money is that when it is there it is very good and helpful but when it’s not many unfortunate things can happen to schools. I feel many of these issues that deal with the money used by schools are unknown when they really should and they are important to know because they show who is deciding things that effect you.
How does this research help us identify or refine a strategy to improve schools in Rhode Island?
This research tells us that while many people think that the American Educational System is flawed that it is really those who try to change the system are the ones who are flawed. For Rhode Island we see that the schools are good but when you look at the inner city public schools like in Central Falls or Providence there isn’t much money there and that they are doing worse than the schools in more affluent areas like East Greenwich or Barrington. Things like charter schools, while many Rhode Islanders think they are good which they can be but they aren’t when they are taking funding from schools who really need it and will not be getting any more like they would if the parents just had them go to private school. Another thing that is happening that shouldn’t is that people are going to private or charter schools and they use vouchers. These things are creating a whole mess of problems for people and not allowing money to go to much needed public schools, they are also hurting the separation between church and state because parents what their children to go to good schools and sometimes that means going to religious privates schools that they may not agree with. I think that for Rhode Island there really isn’t much that would be changed, other than allowing schools that are losing money to charter schools to be able to get more because the more they lose the less likely they will be able to bounce back and do well on state tests. They will continue to lose teachers because of inability to pay them and it will hurt the students and the schools will end up closing. Because whether or not we like to think about it money does matter in schools and schools in cities need it a lot more than what people are willing to give them.